Phrases

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Phrases
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Prepositional Phrases

• What is a prepositional phrase?
• A group of words beginning with a preposition and
  ending with a noun or pronoun.
• For example
• on the steps from Mary and me
• with a wink into the woods
• Prepositional phrases are usually used as
  modifiers. The exception is
• After dinner will be too late.
• The prepositional phrase here is used as the
  subject of the sentence, a noun position.

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The Adjective Phrase

• Prepositional phrases acting as an adjective are
  called adjective phrases.
• What is an adjective?
• -Modifies a noun or a pronoun
• What are the adjective questions again?
• -Which one? What kind? How many? How much? Whose
  is it?
• The pizza in the fridge has been there since last
  Tuesday night.
• What question does the above prep phrase answer?

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Practice from Warriners

• Find all of the adjective phrases in the
  following sentences. Before each phrase, place
  the number of the sentence in which it appears.
  After each phrase, write the noun it modifies.
• 1. Once inhabited primarily by American Indians
  and dreaded by pioneers, the deserts of the
  Southwest are now popular areas for business and
  recreation.
• 2. Caves beneath the rims of the desert canyons
  were once the homes of small bands of Pueblos.
• 3. These lofty homes provided protection from
  enemies, but life in cliff dwellings was hard and
  tedious.
• 4. The flatlands below the abandoned ruins were
  once irrigated by a system of canals.
• 5. A visit to the desert intrigues tourists from
  states without deserts.

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The Adverb Phrase

• Prepositional phrases acting as an adverb are
  called adverb phrases.
• What is an adverb?
• -Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb
• What are the adverb questions again?
• -Where? When? Why? How? To what extent/degree?
• The pizza has been in the fridge since last
  Tuesday night.
• What question does the above prep phrase answer?

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Practice from Warriners

• Find all of the adverb phrases in the following
  sentences. Before each phrase, place the number
  of the sentence in which it appears. After each
  phrase, write the word(s) it modifies.
• 1. After the concert, everyone praised Gail for
  her performance.
• 2. She had practiced at her home for hours.
• 3. When she was playing at her best, she became
  unaware of her surroundings.
• 4. Although she played at home with complete
  abandon, she was modest about her coming
  performance.
• 5. She practiced far beyond the necessary hours,
  knowing she would not be content with a merely
  mechanical rendition.

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Adjective or Adverb? (Adapted from Glencoe
Grammar and Composition Handbook p. 279)

• Find the prepositional phrases in the following
  sentences and explain if they are adjective or
  adverb phrases.
• 1. Who took my book from the hall table?
• 2. Darla planted daffodils along the walkway.
• 3. Our leaders sent messages of sympathy to the
  French government.
• 4. Seven candles on the table provided a bright
  glow.
• 5. The president of the company opened the
  meeting with a short film about environmental
  responsibility.

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Diagramming Prepositional Phrases

• Review Now diagram these sentences
• 1. Who took my book from the hall table?
• 2. Darla planted daffodils along the walkway.
• 3. Our leaders sent messages of sympathy to the
  French government.
• 4. Seven candles on the table provided a bright
  glow.
• 5. The president of the company opened the
  meeting with a short film about environmental
  responsibility.
• (Adapted from Glencoe Grammar and Composition
  Handbook p. 279)

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Extra Practice

• Handout 4.1 and 12.1 (same sheet)
• WB pp. 89-90 with modified directions Underline
  the prep phrase(s) in each sentence, draw an
  arrow to the word(s) it modifies, and label it as
  ADJ or ADV.

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Bell-ringer Activity

• Correct the following two sentences on a sheet of
  paper
• 1. Incidently, two of comedian, Charlie
  Chaplins, finest funniest movies are City Lights
  (1931) and The Gold Rush (1925).
• 2. Thruout history, traveling traders and
  merchants took home new products, such as tea,
  spices and fabrics as a matter of fact thats one
  reason civilizations changed.

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VERBALS

• Verbals are cross-dressing PIGs.
• They are VERBS that do NOT act as VERBS.
• Verbals act like nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
• Verbals may express action, may have modifiers,
  and may be followed by complements.
• Three types Participles, Infinitives, and Gerunds

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The Participle

• A participle is a verb form used as an adjective
• Humming happily to himself, Officer Smiley
  crossed the street.
• I found him crying.
• The awakened children began to stir.
• 2 kinds of participles
• Present (-ing) sleeping, running down the street
• Past (-ed, -d, -t, -en, -n) asked, saved, dealt,
  eaten, seen

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The Participle

• How can you tell if a participle is being used as
  an adjective or as a verb?
• Participles are never used alone as a verb they
  are used with an auxiliary verb to form a verb
  phrase
• The car was moving rapidly.
• The moving car gathered speed rapidly.
• When used in verb phrases, participles are not
  considered as adjectives, but as part of the verb
  phrase.

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The Participial Phrase

• Definition A phrase containing a participle and
  any complements or modifiers it may have.
• What is a complement? (DO, IO, PN, PA)
• What is coat below?
• Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river bank.
• The participle usually introduces the phrase and
  the entire phrase acts as an adjective to modify
  a noun or a pronoun.
• Arthur Ashe, playing with skill, won the
  tournament.
• Getting up at 5am, we got an early start.
• Destroyed by fire, the church was never rebuilt.

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Practice from Warriners(p. 44) Find the
participial phrases in the sentences below.

• 1. High school graduates replying to a
  questionnaire about their college courses often
  mention freshman English as the course giving
  them the most trouble.
• 2. Facing college standards, the graduates
  realize that they did not work hard enough on the
  compositions assigned in high school.
• 3. Statistics reported by the National Education
  Association revealed that the vast majority of
  American colleges offer remedial English classes
  emphasizing composition.
• 4. Handicapped by their writing deficiencies,
  graduates seeing employment or advancement in
  their occupations are often denied desirable
  opportunities.

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More Practice from Warriners (p. 44-45)

• Identify each italicized phrase below as a
  participial, adjective, or adverb phrase, and
  give the word it modifies.
• 1. Having studied hard, Karen walked rapidly to
  school, confident that she would do well on her
  test in chemistry.
• 2. By next week all of the students trying out
  for the soccer team will have heard from the
  coach or his assistant.
• 3. Many of the skits written for Torch Day are
  based on events of the past year.

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More Practice with Participles

• Handout 4.2 12.3
• (pp. 32 15, respectively)
• WB pp. 93-94 Evens

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DO NOT Dangle Your Participles!

• A modifying phrase must clearly and sensibly
  modify a word in the sentence. When there is no
  word that the phrase or clause can sensibly
  modify, the modifier is said to dangle.
• Carrying a heavy pile of books, her foot caught
  on the step.
• How can you fix the above sentence?
• Carrying a heavy pile of books, she caught her
  foot on the step.
• Her foot caught on the step as she was carrying a
  heavy pile of books.

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Dangling Participles(p. 235) Fix the following
sentences

• 1. Coming up the front walk, the bouquet in the
  picture window looked beautiful.
• 2. Left alone in the house, the thunderstorm
  terrified him.
• 3. Living in this coastal town for many years,
  the fishing boats and their skippers were well
  known to him.

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Misplaced Modifiers

• Phrase modifiers (adjective phrases and
  participial phrases) should be placed as near as
  possible to the words they modify.
• The thief decided to make a run for it when he
  saw the police officer, abandoning the stolen car
  and dashing into the woods.
• How is this fixed?
• When he saw the police officer, the thief decided
  to make a run for it, abandoning the stolen car
  and dashing into the woods.
• Prepositional phrases can also be misplaced
• After scoring the winning basket, the crowd
  cheered the team.

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PRACTICERewrite each sentence that contains a
misplaced or dangling modifier. If the sentence
is correct, rewrite one of your own in the same
pattern.

• 1. Sitting on the porch last night, the fireworks
  display was impressive.
• 2. Florida locations attract many retired people
  with their warm temperatures.
• 3. Engrossed in a book, the ringing telephone
  made no impression on Miranda.
• 4. Many people seek counseling in financial
  trouble.
• 5. As the stranger approached, leaving no doubt
  about his intentions, James fled in his car.
• 6. Enjoying the play, we laughed and cried at the
  antics of the characters.
• 7. Growing even more excited, the party in his
  honor was a great surprise for Lorne.
• 8. The students waited impatiently for the
  principal, becoming hungrier by the minute.

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Extra Practice

• WB pp. 209-211 Only the following numbers
• Ex. 1 1-6, 9-16
• Ex. 2

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The Gerund

• Definition A verb form ending in ing that is
  used as a noun.
• They do not appreciate my singing.
• My students give studying top priority.
• How much time do you devote to studying?
• My preference of activities is studying.
• Gerunds may be used in any position in which a
  noun may appear.

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The Gerund Phrase

• A gerund phrase is a gerund plus any modifiers
  and/or complements.
• Students are responsible for mastering their
  subjects.
• What is the difference between the underlined
  phrases in the following two sentences?
• Traveling far from home, she became a little
  home-sick.
• Traveling far from home was a first for her.
• First is a participial (used as an adj.)
• the second is a gerund phrase (used as a noun).
• Which are these?
• Listening to the radio helped Joe work faster.
• Listening to the radio, Joe worked faster.

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PracticeFind the gerund/gerund phrase in each
sentence, and tell what its function is.

• 1. Telling your little brother where you hid your
  diary was a big mistake.
• 2. The college advises sending applications
  early.
• 3. He won the game by kicking a field goal.
• 4. The Colts most important achievement to date
  is winning the Super Bowl.
• 5. I will give writing your recommendation my
  full attention.

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Extra Practice

• HO 4.2 12.3
• (pp. 33 16, respectively)
• WB pp. 95-96 (Odds)
• WB p. 99 (Odds) (practice distinguishing gerunds
  from participles)

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The Infinitive

• An infinitive is a verb form, usually preceded by
  to, that is used as a noun or a modifier (adj or
  adv).
• To wait for the bus is tiresome.
• Everyone wanted to go to the dance.
• Her dream is to fly.
• Some have a tendency to doze in class.
• We study to learn.
• Often the word to is omitted
• She made me leave.
• Help me do my homework, please.
• Be careful not to confuse the infinitive with a
  prepositional phrase that begins with to.

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The Infinitive Phrase

• An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive
  and any complements and/or modifiers it may have.
• We intend to leave early.
• I have an essay to write before class.
• She only wants to help us.
• Like infinitives standing alone, infinitive
  phrases can be used as nouns or as modifiers.
• We tried to study with her.
• To study English became her obsession.
• His plan is to study English in college.
• There must be a way to study better for English.
• I am too busy to go to the movies tonight, as I
  must study English.

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FYI Infinitive Clause

• Unlike other verbals, an infinitive may have a
  subject, as well as complements and modifiers.
• I expected Gloria to vote for me.
• I asked her to help me.
• I believe it to be John.
• I believe it to be good.
• When an infinitive has a subject, the
  construction is called an infinitive clause, as
  it has both a subject and a verb.
• The subject of an infinitive is always in the
  objective case!

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Practice

• Identify the infinitive phrase as adjective,
  adverb, or noun, and describe its function in the
  sentence.
• 1. Amy hopes to learn French so she can study
  abroad.
• 2. We walked two blocks until we found something
  to eat.
• 3. It was difficult to identify the type of
  organism under the microscope.
• 4. To beat her brother to the Pop Tarts in the
  morning required craftiness on her part.
• 5. To do it, she needed to take her shower at
  night.
• 6. Arthurs dream is to score the winning basket.

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Practice

• HO 4.2 12.3
• (pp. 34 17, respectively)
• WB pp. 97-98 (Odds)
• WB p. 100 Ex. 2 only

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The Appositive Phrase

• An appositive is a noun or pronoun, often with
  modifiers, set beside another noun or pronoun to
  explain or identify it.
• My friend Rachel sent me a postcard.
• An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any
  modifiers.
• Two years ago, I rode a hydrofoil across the
  English Channel, the body of water between
  England and France.
• Appositives that are not essential to the meaning
  of the sentence should be set off by commas.
• My uncle Bill raises horses to show.
• (I have four uncles.)
• My brother, Chris, is getting a masters degree.
• (I only have one brother.)

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Practice

• Handout
• WB pp. 91-92 EVENS

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Cumulative Practice

• Identify each italicized phrase in the sentences
  below as adj, adv, participial, gerund,
  infinitive, or appositive.
• As its population increases by leaps and bounds,
  the world faces a shortage of fresh water.
• An obvious way to increase the fresh water supply
  is to convert sea water.
• Converting sea water is, therefore, one of our
  greatest scientific problems.
• Scientists are experimenting with two methods,
  the well-known distillation process and the
  freeze-separation process, which separates fresh
  water by freezing it into removable crystals.
• Using one billion gallons a day, a city of four
  million people spends, under present
  circumstances, approximately one dollar per
  thousand gallons but converted water produced by
  existing methods often costs five times as much.